Six podcasts you should subscribe to as a new leader
One thing great leaders have in common: they never stop learning. Here's my top podcasts to support your growth and development as a leader
The average podcast listener spends 7 hours per week listening to podcasts.
I have a suspicion that I spend A LOT more hours than that. From leadership skills to communication techniques to people management, the podcasts I listen to vary wildly and contribute to my learning in many different ways.
If you’re looking for some inspiring listens or actionable advice, I’ve compiled some podcasts that you should bookmark as a starting point for your leadership learning journey.
Here’s my leadership podcast recommendations and the episodes to start on 👇
This post covers:
Six podcasts to add to your list
The one thing that great leaders have in common
Recommended resources
TL;DR
💘 Radical Candor: Communication at Work
🏎️ The High Performance Podcast
⚡ REWORK
Six podcasts to add to your list
1. Radical Candor: Communication at Work with Kim Scott, Jason Rosoff and Amy Sandler
How they describe it: “Improve your feedback and communications skills, become a better leader, manager or team player, and drive your #careergoals in the direction of your dreams…what it means to be Radically Candid, why it’s simple but not easy to Care Personally and Challenge Directly on the daily, and why it’s worth it.”
Why I recommend it: This podcast provides actionable and human strategies to help you lead, manage and communicate better based on the Radical Candor framework: Care Personally and Challenge Directly.
Where to start:
2. The High Performance Podcast with Damian Hughes and Jake Humphrey
How they describe it: “The High Performance Podcast turns the lived experiences of the planet's high performers into your life lessons. Jake and Damian look beyond the guests achievements and encourage guests to share how they developed their mindset, what gives them confidence, how they navigate adversity and much more.”
Why I recommend it: This is a podcast with amazing guests focused on what high performance means to them and how they achieve it across a wide range of worlds and industries including sport, business and entertainment.
Where to start:
Fernando Alonso: 99% of the time you will not succeed
Jo Malone: Finding your own superpower
Holly Tucker: Turn imposter syndrome into a superpower
3. REWORK from 37signals (Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson)
How they describe it: “A podcast by 37signals about the better way to work and run your business. The REWORK podcast features the co-founders of 37signals (the makers of Basecamp and HEY), Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson sharing their unique perspective on business and entrepreneurship along with host Kimberly Rhodes.”
Why I recommend it: Jason and David challenge the conventions of traditional business and provide straight-talking ideas on how companies can work better such as 40 hours is enough, meetings are toxic and no time is no excuse.
Where to start:
Making the Call is Making Progress
4. Managing Made Simple by Lia Garvin
How they describe it: “Being a people manager is kind of the best. But it's kind of the worst too, right? I mean between questions like, “how do I know what to talk about in a 1:1 meeting?” to “how do I give difficult feedback without being awkward?” to “how do I avoid becoming a micromanager?” – managing teams can be really overwhelming. Not anymore. The Managing Made Simple Podcast for Team Leaders & Business Owners is your roadmap and compass to help you navigate life as a people manager.”
Why I recommend it: Lia shares bite-size, between 10 to 30 minutes, bits of advice and guidance on the real-life challenges we all face as a people manager.
Where to start:
5. The Twenty Minute VC by 20VC (Harry Stebbings)
How they describe it: “The Twenty Minute VC (20VC) interviews the world's greatest venture capitalists with prior guests including Sequoia's Doug Leone and Benchmark's Bill Gurley.”
Why I recommend it: For a deep-dive into the minds and experiences of incredibly impressive guests from incredibly impressive people in the VC world. Leadership lessons are relevant whether you are in VC or not.
Where to start:
6. The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett
How they describe it: “The Diary of a CEO is an unfiltered journey into the remarkable stories of the people that have defined culture, achieved greatness and created stories worth studying. The Diary Of A CEO is different because of how raw, honest and emotional it is -living up to the word "Diary" in its name - these are the things people don't usually share told with a level of honesty that most "interviews" don't give you.”
Why I recommend it: It's hard to beat the calibre and vulnerability of the guests on The Diary of a CEO as they share their life and leadership lessons. Being a leader is tough, this podcast lifts the lid to the rawness underneath the public stories we all think we know.
Where to start:
The one thing great leaders have in common
The one thing that I have observed from great leaders is that they never stop learning. That can be done in many ways from simply doing the thing for the first time, from reading or education, or from listening to others’ experiences and expertise such as on podcasts.
This post provides six podcasts that I think you should be learning from to help your growth and development on your leadership journey.
And, don’t forget to add your podcast recommendations to the comments for other leaders 👇
Recommended resources
If you’re just not a podcast person, here’s some alternative ways to get the recommended resources above:
Book: Rework: Change The Way You Work Forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier
Book: High Performance: Lessons from the Best on Becoming Your Best by Jake Humphrey and Prof Damian Hughes
Book: Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean by Kim Scott
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Coming up: In next week’s post, I’ll be sharing my approach to coaching conversations.
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